Superman where are you now? A new start-up company has begun marketing and selling special glasses that will give ultra-Orthodox men the opposite of X-ray vision. It is the latest prescription for extreme haredi men who shun contact with the opposite sex. The glasses blur their vision, so they do not have to see women they consider to be immodestly dressed. In an effort to maintain their strictly devout lifestyle, the ultra-Orthodox have separated the sexes on buses, sidewalks and other public spaces in their neighborhoods. Their interpretation of Jewish law forbids contact between men and women who are not married. Walls in their neighborhoods feature signs exhorting women to wear closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts. Extremists have accosted women they consider to have flouted the code. Now they are trying to keep them out of clear sight altogether. The haredi community's unofficial "modesty patrols" are selling glasses with special blur-inducing stickers on their lenses. The glasses provide clear vision for up to a few meters so as not to impede movement, but anything beyond that gets blurry including women. It's not known how many have been sold. For men forced to venture outside their insular communities, hoods and visers that block peripheral vision are also being offered. The glasses are going for the "modest" price of $6. Perforations at the bottom of the lens enable the wearer to look down at the ground and still see clearly where they are walking. For those men who actually require glasses for corrective vision, special stickers are available that can be affixed to existing glasses to obscure the vision.
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